Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
by Tadpole24
Summary: With unsure eyes she returned the sentiment, changing one word and two lives, “I’m going to miss you.” And then the dam broke. BB Season 5 Finale Spoilers.


**Just another finale fic which I wish would come true. ;)**

**Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled for future episodes. Just coz I'm a spoiler whore, doesn't mean everyone is. Lol.**

**Drop me a line at the end, reviews aren't hard to leave and they really make a girls day. :)**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I wanted to make a subject at Uni about watching Bones and analysing the BB relationship...i don't think the owner of the show would do that...**

..:::..

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

..:::..

His hips ground hard into hers, eliciting moans from her swollen lips. The pain and the pleasure was melded together to fit in one moment, making them want each other more and more each second.

His hands grappled for the material of her thin blouse and she helped him tear it away from her body, their skin clashing together, more moans at the contact of searing skin on searing skin.

They made their way through the hallway of his apartment, stopping more than necessary just to feel each other a little more, touch a little more, kiss a little more. He pulled her inside his bedroom and closed the door behind them, pulling her close to him once again.

But the day hadn't begun there.

It had started at work. More accurately, it had started at her work, the Jeffersonian Institute platform laboratory.

"Bones!"

There was something in his tone that let her know right away that everything was not okay, she turned slowly from the skeleton on the table to meet his anxious gaze.

"What's wrong, Booth?"

He ran up the stairs, forgetting to swipe his card. The security unit knew him well enough to know he wasn't posing any threats, so they swiped their own, stopping the alarm and allowing Booth to walk to Brennan's side.

The entire lab team had stepped out of their respective offices and were watching intently the two people on the platform. They had all known this moment was coming; it was just a matter of when he found out.

"You're leaving?"

His eyes were sad and there was a pain in her chest associated with looking at him, as well as a drop in her stomach.

She shook her head, "Not for good, just while you're gone, I'll be gone too."

"But what about when I get my break? I'll be home for two weeks, I thought we had plans to see each other," they were only a minute into this conversation and he was already clutching at straws to make her stay.

"You'll want to see Parker more than anything. You won't even be thinking about me." She started to turn back to the bones on the table, but he kept going.

"I'll be thinking about you the whole time, Bones."

She let her shoulders drop, defeated and vulnerable, "Booth, do you think I'm that heartless? This hurts me too. Seeing you every day and knowing that I'm not enough for you, it hurts. I need the time away just as much as you do. Let's just enjoy this last week before we go and then deal with it as we go."

He nodded and turned to walk away, "You're more than enough for me, Bones, if only you could see that."

She heard him but did not respond, instead continuing her preliminary examination of John Doe 323.

..:::..

The rest of the day passed by in a blur for him. Papers were delivered to his office; he signed them and sent the deliverers on their way. His mouth formed words to his colleagues, but he barely heard them come out. He knew he was wallowing in self pity, but he didn't care. Why shouldn't he get to wallow?

The reason he had taken the Rangers up on their offer was because it would take him away from Bones long enough to let his heart heal a little. It was also long enough that maybe she would come to her senses and realise that she was everything he wanted. He was coming back at the 6 month mark for 2 weeks and he had been hoping that in that time, she might have decided to be with him. But now, now she was flying off to Indonesia for the year. She was moving on.

He signed off on a few more papers and then left the office early.

He considered going by the Jeffersonian again and picking up Bones and taking her to dinner, but the thought made his stomach turn. They'd have to talk about their trips away and he didn't want to face the fact that she was leaving as well.

He knew that he had been the one to take the initiative and agree to the Rangers job to get away from the pain of being around her, but at the same time, they had made plans to see each other after 6 months and now those plans were gone. As horrible as it sounded, the thought of coming home was so much less appealing to him now; even with the prospect of seeing Parker (which really did make him happy) he just couldn't bring himself to be as excited for the 6 month break. He just wanted to run and keep on running.

The shower beat hard against his tired skin, massaging his sore muscles and relaxing his body. He let it run as hot as it would go, short of giving him 1st degree burns, and pressed his head up against the tiled wall. Only then did the tears prick at his eyes.

If he was willing to admit it, he was crying for his partner, for the loss of her as his best friend. They could lie to themselves and say that nothing had changed, but everything had changed. They couldn't be themselves around each other anymore; it hurt them both to even just _see_ each other. He didn't let the tears flow for long, cutting them off before he felt too weak.

He flicked the taps off and began to dry himself when he heard the knock at his door.

He pulled on some sweatpants and stepped out of the bathroom towards the source of the knocking.

It shouldn't have been surprising to see her standing there, a bag of Thai in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, but it was. He was shocked that she had been the one to cross that barrier first as they had been avoiding each other's houses like the plague since that night where their souls were bared.

She didn't have to ask and he didn't have to offer, she just slinked her way through the door and moved into his lounge room, sitting on the floor in front of the couch and placing the food and wine on the table. Booth went to the bathroom first and found a t-shirt to put over his heated skin he then went to the kitchen and got them some glasses and then made his way to sit beside her on the floor.

"Well this is a nice surprise."

She smiled at him, "We haven't done it in a while."

He nodded, "Hence the nice part."

They ate in silence and Booth was amazed at how hungry he was. The wine bottle disappeared quickly and was replaced with a couple of beers, the floor was replaced with the couch and the silence was replaced with the TV. Although, what they were watching, neither one could say. They were both just waiting for the words to come from the others mouth.

Booth figured that Bones had made the effort to come around in the first place, so he guessed it should be him who broke the silence.

"I'm going to miss this."

She turned to look at him; she was closer than he remembered, a lot closer. He sucked in a breath.

With unsure eyes she returned the sentiment, changing one word and two lives, "I'm going to miss you."

And the dam broke.

It was frenzied and fast and damn the consequences. He wanted her and she wanted him and in a week they would be apart for a year, so damn it all, they were going to make out. At least those were his thoughts until she pulled his shirt over his head and things got a whole lot heavier.

..:::..

Their mixed scents hung in the air, their bodies were hot and sated, entwined from head to soul. She caught her breath first and turned her head lazily toward him, "What does this mean?"

He turned his head to meet her eyes, running his hand up her side, kissing her forehead, "It means what it always would have meant," he kissed her cheek, "It means I love you and I will wait for you from no matter where I am."

She nodded, understanding, they were still going to need their time apart to mend, but they were definitely on the road to recovery after tonight, "It means the centre will hold, right?"

There was so much they needed to talk about, to discuss in relation to them, but for tonight they could just relax, knowing that the healing would begin sooner rather than later, he kissed her lips once and felt his eyes slide shut in exhaustion, whispering, "The centre will hold."

She fell asleep beside him, a smile on her face.

..:::..

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**Em**


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